McCarthy, Southwest Airlines Celebrates Topping Out of 'Wings' Building

This week, McCarthy is celebrating two important milestones at the Southwest Airlines ‘Wings’ project - the topping out of what will be Southwest’s new office building and Leadership Education and Aircrew Development (LEAD) Center and the on-time delivery of the first flight simulator. The construction company broke ground on the new building at the corporate campus in Dallas in May 2016 and completed the portion of the Wings building that will house the LEAD Center on May 15, 2017 in time to receive the first Flight Simulator. The overall project is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2018.

To celebrate the milestones, more than 750 people gathered today at the Wings building. Those in attendance included McCarthy’s construction team, teams from 36 subcontractors, project architects and engineers, and Southwest Airlines executives.

“We’re excited about this new facility on our corporate campus and proud to make this investment in our People and in the Dallas community,” said John Zuzu, Southwest Airlines senior director of corporate facilities.

The first flight simulator installation in the LEAD Center was complete the week of May 15. The building has capacity for 18 simulators with most of the positions scheduled to receive equipment in the coming months. These flight simulators will train pilots on existing and new aircraft being added to the Southwest’s fleet. The LEAD Center, which is built with a hardened structure designed to withstand the forces of an F4 Tornado, is scheduled to start operation in the third quarter of this year.

“We are committed to delivering on our promise to complete the project on or ahead of schedule and within budget for Southwest Airlines,” said McCarthy Project Executive Dan Cummings. “Our team has worked diligently in getting this building ready for the pilots and technicians. We have had the full support of Southwest Airlines, the project architects and engineers, and our subcontractors, to maintain the flow of work necessary to accomplish our mission.”

Located adjacent to Love Field Airport, the project consists of a six-story, 425,000-square-foot office building and an attached 375,000-square-foot LEAD Center that will house 18 flight simulators associated offices and ancillary areas. Other features will include a 1,950-space parking garage and a 400-foot-long elevated pedestrian safety bridge.

About McCarthy

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the oldest privately held national construction company in the country – with more than 150 years spent collaborating with partners to solve complex building challenges on behalf of its clients. With an unrelenting focus on safety and a comprehensive quality program that span all phases of every project, McCarthy utilizes industry-leading design phase and construction techniques combined with value-add technology to maximize outcomes. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work and Healthiest Employer, McCarthy is ranked the 16th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2016). With approximately 1,700 salaried employees and offices in Dallas, Houston; St. Louis, Atlanta; Collinsville, Ill.; Portage, Ind.; Kansas City, Kan.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Denver; Albuquerque; and San Diego, Newport Beach, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento, Calif. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com or by following the company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Google+.

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ABOUT McCARTHY

Established in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has a long history of building facilities that drive greater value. From exceptional levels of quality and safety — to ease of maintenance over time, we are firmly committed to helping our clients and partners achieve the short- and long-term strategic goals of every project we do.

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is an independent McCarthy Holdings company.